Preview

OVERVIEW

Do students' eyes glaze over when they try to edit their own writing? Give them a fresh perspective with peer editing. Students are introduced to a three-step strategy for peer editing, providing (1) compliments, (2) suggestions, and (3) corrections in response to a sample of student writing. They practice these steps in a small-group session and share the results with the class. Then they move to individual editing practice guided by a PowerPoint tutorial and accompanying worksheet. This series of practice activities prepares students to engage in constructive peer editing of classmates’ written work on a regular basis.

PRINTOUTS

PREPARATION

1.

Access and review the sample student work from the Massachusetts Department of Education-5 points and 4 points. Photocopy class sets of the writing samples or copy them onto transparencies for whole-class practice.

Peer Editing as a Whole Class

1.

Introduce the concept of peer editing to students and define the term (i.e., students work with someone their own age-usually someone in the same class-to help improve, revise, and edit a piece of student writing). Brainstorm the pros and cons of peer editing and record students' thoughts about the editing and revising process on chart paper.

2.

Tell students that they will learn how to peer edit more effectively. Explain that they will look at some samples of student writing. The writing prompt was

Think about a time you tried something new. Maybe it was your first day of school, your first time on a bike or bus, the first time you tried a skill learned in class, or the first time you tried a new sport.

Write a story about when you did something for the first time. Give enough details to show the reader what happened.

3.

Pass out (or use an overhead transparency) to show the sample student work-5 points. Read it aloud to students. Explain that there are three steps to peer editing:

Step 1: Compliments

Step 2: Suggestions

Step 3: Corrections

As you introduce each step, model a few compliments, suggestions, and corrections that you would make on the sample writing piece.

4.

Start with compliments. Talk about why it is important to give compliments first and the importance of "staying positive." Ask students to brainstorm compliments that they could give for the 5-point writing sample. Some things to look for may include

Word choice

Organization

Sentence structure

Opening and closing sentences

Record students' compliments on the board or have them record them on paper.

5.

After students have brainstormed compliments, have them move on to the second step—suggestions. Ask students to think of suggestions they would make to the author. Students should remember that "put-downs" are not allowed. Remind students that they need to be specific when giving suggestions. For example, "The second sentence in the third paragraph is confusing to me. Maybe you could break it up into two separate sentences." Record students' suggestions on the board.

6.

Lastly, have students make corrections on the sample by checking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Depending on the skills and routines in your classroom, you may want to have students use editing marks or simply circle or underline mistakes.

Peer Editing in Small Groups

Ask students to fold a blank sheet of paper into thirds and label the first column compliments, the second column suggestions, and the third column corrections.

Note: You may want to have students make corrections (the third step) directly on the writing sample, especially if they are using editing marks.

3.

Have students work with their group to peer edit the writing sample. They should follow the three steps learned in the previous session: start with compliments, then suggestions, and finally corrections. Remind students to review their notes from the previous session if they get stuck on any step.

4.

When students are finished, bring the class back together and have the groups share their compliments, suggestions, and corrections.

EXTENSIONS

Have students practice their skills by peer editing a piece written by a classmate. Implement and instill the peer-editing technique by having students edit their classmates' written pieces on a regular basis.

Have students teach a fellow class to peer edit using the information they learned in this lesson.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS

Work with the class to develop a peer-editing checklist for use with future peer editing. It should include all three steps to peer editing.

Start by asking students what they need to remember about the first step—compliments. Guide the class to create one or two checklist items related to compliments. Some ideas might include, "I gave the author of this piece at least two compliments" or "I was specific about what I liked about this piece of writing." Record these student-generated checklist items on the board or on chart paper.

Move through the other two steps of peer editing (suggestions and corrections) and generate several other checklist items. Some ideas might include, "I gave the author detailed suggestions about how to improve this piece of writing" or "I marked all the spelling and grammar errors that I saw in this piece of writing."

Once students have generated six to seven checklist items, record and type them up. Have students use the checklist as an assessment tool for future peer-editing sessions.

Students explore writing from non-human perspectives through a picture book read aloud, mini-lesson, collaborative writing, and the writing process. Students create “A Day in the Life of…” story about an inanimate object.

Comments

Such a well-prepared lesson. I will be teaching the writing process. Believe me I will use some of you material. The power point is very clear. The language is very accessible to my ELLs.

Judy Reeves

September 03, 2013

I am a Science teacher with one class of Literature .. With the new Core I want my 8th grade students to have a better feeling on writing in all my classes. By promoting Peer editing..My students said" This is wonderful, now I understand what peer work really means!"

Louise

April 07, 2012

Thank you for these resources. I am beginning a unit of the revision of writing, and the resources gave me a great way to work with student partners, yet introduce "Peer Editing" to the whole class. It would be nice to have the 5-point and 4-point papers, but I can also make my own rubric.

Debora Tyler

March 23, 2011

Went looking for a resource to teach writing a "How to " paper for 4th graders! I found this...and wow...what a GREAT resource. My kids are going to love it! The interactive sites and worksheets especially useful. Thanks so much for your work. DT

Kaylee Olney, RWT Staff

April 22, 2010

Thanks for the nudge, Heather. The broken links are now fixed. Sorry for the delay!

Heather Cleland

April 19, 2010

Still waiting for those broken links to be fixed. It would be really helpful.

Kaylee Olney, RWT Staff

January 25, 2010

Thank you for alerting us to those broken links, Glenna. We are currently reviewing the new sets of student work available at http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/student/2009/. Once we determine which sample will be most useful to teachers using this lesson, we will update the lesson accordingly.

Glenna

January 24, 2010

Loved the lesson, but access to the 5 point and 4 point papers was available.